Cheering Up Sakura
by AnimateObsessive
Summary: Kakashi notices Sakura is feeling miserable and decides to cheer her up.


Sakura slumped against the tree, a look of defeat on her features.

Yet another failed date. Another spark of hope snuffed out by an unforgiving reality. She should have grown tired of this routine years ago. She was just on the edge of nineteen years of age, yet four years of this had taught her nothing. If anything, she had learned that men were a lot crueler than she'd perceived in her boy-obsessed mind at the delusional age of twelve.

How did other girls do it? Sakura wondered. As far she could tell, the majority of her female friends were dedicated to the exact same instruction, meticulously copied from magazines and romantic literature. Yet she alone was plagued by failure. Whatever she was doing wrong, it appeared to originate from a much deeper point.

Kakashi approached the pondering woman cautiously. He had discovered many times over that he wasn't very well-suited to confronting females when they were in a state of misery. His comments could occasionally come off as malevolent, rather than genuinely empathetic. And Sakura wasn't the kind of woman he wanted to desire his end.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

Sakura blinked at him. She had briefly forgotten she was in a rather public place and therefore likely to be approached. She stared at Kakashi momentarily, frowning over his query. It was a simple enough question, yet the answer eluded her at first. Quite a few things were _wrong,_ if she was being truthful with herself: Her lack of good fortune with men, her failing self-confidence, her steadily escalating anger toward the male sex. Finally, Sakura managed to summarize all of her problems and released them with satisfaction.

"Men!" she burst out in answer.

Kakashi's expression turned from concern to nervousness. According to the last time he'd showered, he was most certainly a man. And according to Sakura's reply, she seemed to have developed a certain amount of wrath towards men. Putting these facts together, Kakashi wondered if it was best to retreat before he ended up on the receiving end of a rampage.

Sakura covered her face with her hands, sighing in unhappiness.

"I'm losing my confidence!" she complained. "I've tried everything I can, but men just aren't interested in me! What's _wrong_ with me, Kakashi-sensei?!"

Kakashi thought for a moment, studying the distressed woman.

"Well, you can be a little too jug-," he began slowly.

He halted in his careful examination of her flaws, realizing just in time that he was taking a very dangerous path. Kakashi hastily swallowed the remainder of his list, aware he'd avoided a hospital visit. He thought it might be smarter to merely walk away without speaking, but he found the option highly undesirable. Sakura appeared genuinely upset. He felt it was only fair of him to say _something,_ in an attempt to cheer her up. Rather determined, Kakashi revised his earlier statement.

"You...have as many flaws as anyone else," he uttered carefully. "There isn't really anything wrong with you, Sakura. In fact, you're kind of pretty and very kindhearted."

Sakura uncovered her face. She was somewhat confused, but also slightly less miserable.

"Pre-Pretty?" she stammered. "You...you really think that, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi, pleased that he wasn't making things worse, nodded.

"You're not the most beautiful woman in the world," he continued. "But that hardly matters in your case, because you have a beautiful heart and a lovely smile."

For the first time since she'd woken up, Sakura was beginning to smile. She felt significantly more cheerful, the weight of all those failed dates no longer pressing down on her stomach.

"Thank you," she uttered quietly. "You're...you're pretty great, too, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi returned her smile.

"And you also shouldn't worry about your breasts," he added. "They might be small, but a lot of men find small ones to be cute. Even if they never get any bigger, you have a decent ass to make up f-"

He choked on the remainder of the sentence as Sakura punched him in the stomach. He would have counted himself fortunate it wasn't his nose or throat, but at the moment he was too busy trying to blink away the stars. He coughed, struggling to reclaim the oxygen the blow had ripped from his lungs.

Sakura did not look angry as she regarded Kakashi. Despite her violent response, there was a grin on her features. Kakashi had actually managed to make her feel better. Her withered confidence was beginning to recover itself. She leaned forward and kissed Kakashi's forehead.

"Thank you for cheering me up," she uttered kindly.

She turned and departed, leaving Kakashi gasping for breath and groaning in pain.


End file.
